Greek Festival extension gets thumbs up from patrons

Michael McWeeneyHoly Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Ortodox Church's Greek Festival.STATEN ISLAND, NY – BULLS HEAD — The 39th annual Greek Festival wrapped up its second week on Sunday. Normally, that would mean local residents would have to wait until next September for the Hellenic celebration to return to the Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church parking lot in Bulls Head.

But not this year.

With the opening three-day set a washout, organizers have decided to keep the festival up and running for one more weekend – tomorrow from 6 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from 2 p.m. to midnight and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Patrons couldn’t be more pleased.

"This is my first time here, but I have to say that this is fantastic," said South Beach resident AntoinetteDelPriore, who was referred by her mother and raved about the homemade foods, the politeness of the workers and overall cleanliness of the site. "It’s very family-oriented here. I’ll definitely come back again."

And it wasn’t just festival rookies who were impressed this past weekend, which saw a few thousand visitors come through.

"I used to work here sometimes when this festival first started," said Eltingville resident John Nichols, while his 7-year-old granddaughter, Gianna, sized up some of the game booths. "It really gets better every year. And the kids get a kick out of the rides and games, and I love the food, especially the souvlaki."

PatriciaGonzalez of Port Richmond, a fan of the baklava, echoed those sentiments.

"There’s no San Gennaro Festival on Staten Island," she said, while watching her 4-year-old daughter, Ava, spin on one of the rides. "This is a nice thing to do with the kids. I think it’s great."